Practice was winding down Monday at the Spurs team facility when Tim Duncan, looking no worse for wear after his most recent injury scare, ambled onto the court to put up a few shots.

It was a sight for sore eyes — or rather, a sore left knee, with which Duncan is listed as day-to-day. It’s the same joint that’s already cost him four games this season and however many more over the years. He had also been initially listed with a mild right ankle sprain, but that was removed for Monday’s update.

From the Spurs’ perspective, that’s about as best-case as it gets after their franchise big man went down and stayed there for several long minutes midway through Saturday’s victory over Washington, clutching his left knee in obvious pain after being rolled into from behind by Martell Webster.

An MRI conducted on Sunday revealed no structural damage, and the entire Spurs organization let out a typhoon-worthy sigh of relief.

“When you first see it,” Gary Neal said, “there’s nothing positive in your mind. Through the grace of God it was nothing serious and Timmy will probably be back with us in the middle of the road trip.”

“It’s a scare to us, the organization, the fans and everybody. We’re glad he’s all right,” Stephen Jackson said. “For us to reach our goal we know we’re not going to be able to to do that without him.”

* The Spurs listed Manu Ginobili as doubtful for Wednesday’s game at Minnesota with the tight left hamstring that forced him out of the Washington contest. Should he sit, Ginobili will have missed six of the pat 10 games and 10 overall with a variety of ailments.

* Center Aron Baynes also went down on Saturday while playing in Bakersfield, Calif., for the Austin Toros. He declined to even call it an injury, however, saying he had simply slipped on a wet spot.

“In any game, you’re going to get a couple niggles,” he said. “It was nothing bad.”

Baynes was recalled Monday following his brief stint with the Toros. The trip was an attempt to help Baynes work his way back into playing shape after his recent inactivity as he completed the move from Slovenia’s Union Olimpija to the Spurs.

* Neal said he has no choice but to shoot his way out of his recent slump, in which he’s made just 30.8 of his attempts (20 for 65) over the past nine games.

“What can you do?” he said. “You just try to continue to take good shots and, hopefully, through the course of a season you’ll be able to shoot a pretty decent percentage.”

* Quote of the Day, Captain Jack on the quality of rodeo food: “I’m gong to ride down there today and see if I can get me some (turkey legs). That’s the best part: The food. If you can smell a little manure a little bit you can eat good. You’ve got to be able to take a little doo-doo. There’s a lot of it around there.”

* Quote of the Day II, Captain Jack on Duncan’s close call: “Being a basketball player, it’s hard to be effective out there without your knee.”